Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon
|death_place= Putney, London, England |label_name=Lucile Ltd. }} Lucy Christiana, Lady Duff-Gordon (née Sutherland) (13 June 1863 – 20 April 1935) was a leading fashion designer in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, best known as "Lucile", her professional name. The first English designer to achieve international renown, Lucile was a widely acknowledged innovator in couture styles as well as in fashion industry public relations. Apart from originating the "mannequin parade", a precursor to the modern fashion show, and training the first professional models, she launched liberating slit skirts and low necklines, popularized less restrictive corsets, and promoted alluring, pared-down lingerie.Etherington-Smith, Meredith, The "It" Girls (1986), 56–57; Mendes, Valerie D., Lucile Ltd(2009), 22, 26 She opened branches of her London house, Lucile Ltd, in Paris, New York City, and Chicago, dressing a trend-setting clientele of royalty, nobility, and stage and film personalities.Georgina O'Hara, The Encyclopedia of Fashion (1986), 164; Hamish Bowles, "The Look of the Century", Vogue , Nov. 1999, 453 Lucy Duff Gordon is also remembered as a survivor of the [[sinking of the RMS Titanic|sinking of Titanic]] in 1912, and as the losing party in the precedent-setting 1917 contract law case of Wood v. Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon, in which Judge Benjamin N. Cardozo wrote the opinion for New York's highest court, the New York Court of Appeals.Lynch, Don, Titanic: An Illustrated History(1992),182–185; 222 N.Y. 88, N.E.214 Early life Daughter of civil engineer Douglas Sutherland (1838–1865) and his Anglo-French-Canadian wife Elinor Saunders (1841–1937), Lucy Christiana Sutherland was born in London, England and raised in Guelph, Ontario, Canada, after her father's death of typhoid fever. When her mother remarried in 1871 to bachelor David Kennedy (d. 1889) she moved with them and her sister, the future novelist Elinor Glyn, to Saint Helier on the Isle of Jersey. Lucy acquired her love of fashion through dressing her collection of dolls, by studying gowns worn by women in family paintings, and later making clothes for herself and her sister.Duff Gordon, Lucy, Discretions and Indiscretions(1932), 6,9,17; Glyn, Elinor, Romantic Adventure(1936), 47 Returning to Jersey, after a visit to relatives in England in 1875, Lucy and Elinor survived the wreck of their ship when it ran aground in a gale.Glyn, Elinor, Romantic Adventure, 27–28 Marriage and family In 1884 Lucy married James Stuart Wallace, with whom she had a child, Esme (1885–1973) (later wife of the 2nd Earl of Halsbury and mother of Anthony, 3rd Earl of Halsbury). An alcoholic, Wallace was regularly unfaithful, and Lucy sought consolation in love affairs, including a long relationship with Dr. Sir Morell Mackenzie.Duff Gordon, Lucy, Discretions and Indiscretions, 22, 23, 33–35; Glyn, Elinor, Romantic Adventure, 54 The Wallaces separated in about 1890, and Lucy started divorce proceedings in 1893.Date of 1890–1891 estimated from Lucy Duff Gordon's autobiography, Discretions and Indiscretions, 35; also see "She Changed Eve's Dress", London Daily Sketch (22 April 1935), 2: "The six years of my marriage to Jim were the worst years I ever knew." The Wallaces' divorce was finalized in 1895, as recorded in Supreme Court archives, and quoted in Lucile Ltd by Valerie D. Mendes and Amy de la Haye (2009), 216. Also see Elinor Glyn: A Life by her grandson Anthony Glyn, which refers to the breakdown of his great-aunt's marriage In 1900 Lucile married Scottish landowner and sportsman Sir Cosmo Duff Gordon.Glasgow Herald, 19 May 1900 Fashion career In order to support herself and her daughter after the end of her first marriage, Lucy began working as a dressmaker from home. By 1894 she had opened Maison Lucile in Old Burlington St, in the heart of the fashionable West End of London."At the Shops: Modes at the Maison Lucile," Hearth and Home, 4 January 1894 In 1897 a larger shop was opened at 17 Hanover Square, before a further move (c. 1901–04) to 14 George St. In 1903 the business was incorporated as "Lucile, Ltd" and the following year moved to 23 Hanover Square. Lucile Ltd served a wealthy clientele including aristocracy, royalty, and theatre stars. The business expanded with branches opening in New York City, Paris, and Chicago in 1910, 1911, and 1915 respectively."A High Priestess of Clothes," Vogue, 15 April 1910, 27ff; "How London Now Dresses Paris: Lady Duff Gordon's Work in the Gay City," Tatler, 23 April 1913, 134 Lucile was most famous for her lingerie, tea gowns, and evening wear. The gown illustrated at right typifies a classically draped style often found in Lucile designs. It was designed in Paris for the spring 1913 collection.Duff Gordon, Lady ("Lucile"), "The Last Word in Fashions," Harper's Bazar, July 1913, 26; also "Mousseline Now Holds First Place," New York Times, 6 July 1913, and "Vogue Points," Vogue, 15 May 1913; Gown worn by Heather Firbank. Published design included beading, lost or omitted from this example. She is also widely credited with training the first professional fashion models (called mannequins) as well as staging the first runway or "catwalk" style shows.Howell, Georgina, Vogue Women (1998), 85; Mulvey, Kate, and Richards, Melissa, Decades of Beauty: The Changing Image of Women, 1890s–1990s (1998), 35; "Fashion's Stage: The Methods of the Theatre at the Dressmaker's," The Illustrated London News, 13 June 1908; "Lady Duff Gordon – 'Lucile,'" Harper's Bazar, Aug. 1914, 38–41 These affairs were theatrically inspired, invitation-only, tea-time presentations, complete with a stage, curtains, mood-setting lighting, music from a string band, souvenir gifts, and programmes. Another innovation in the presentation of her collections were what she called her "emotional gowns." These dresses were given descriptive names, influenced by literature, history, popular culture, and Lucile's interest in the psychology and personality of her clients.Aspinwall, Grace, "Lady Duff Gordon: A Titled Designer of Clothes Who Aims to Dress the Soul," Good Housekeeping, Nov. 1910, 572–573 The designer was especially noted for luxurious layered and draped garments in soft fabrics of blended pastel colours, often accentuated with sprays of hand-made silk flowers, which became a hallmark of her work."Dream Dresses", Philadelphia Museum of Art (1998), Best Dressed, 22 However, Lucile also created simple, smart tailored suits and daywear.Ginsburg, Madeleine, Four Hundred Years of Fashion (1984), 81 Some well-known clients, whose clothing influenced many when it appeared in early films, on stage, and in the press, included: Irene Castle, Lily Elsie, Gertie Millar, Gaby Deslys, Billie Burke, and Mary Pickford. Lucile costumed many theatrical productions including the London première of Franz Lehár's operetta The Merry Widow (1907), the Ziegfeld Follies revues on Broadway (1915–21), and the D. W. Griffith silent movie Way Down East (1920).Beaton, Sir Cecil The Glass of Fashion (1954), 32–34, 94; Castle, Irene, Castles in the Air (1958), 135–136; Baral, Robert, Revue: The Great Broadway Period (1962), 59–61. Her fashions were also frequently featured in Pathé and Gaumont newsreels of the 1910s and 20s, and she appeared in her own weekly spot in the British newsreel "Around the Town" (c. 1917–1919).Leese, Elizabeth, Costume Design in the Movies (1991), 75; Hammerton, Jenny, For Ladies Only:Eve's Film Review/Pathe Cinemagazine, 1921–33, 52 Lucile also wrote a weekly syndicated fashion page for the Hearst newspaper syndicate (1910–22), and monthly columns for Harper's Bazaar and Good Housekeeping magazines (1912–22). In addition to her career as a couturière, costumier, journalist, and pundit, Lucile took significant advantage of opportunities for commercial endorsement, lending her name to advertising for shoes, brassieres, perfume, and other luxury apparel and beauty items.Etherington-Smith, Meredith, The "It" Girls (1986), 196; Mendes, Valerie D., Lucile Ltd (2009), 196–197 Among the most adventurous of her licensing ventures were a two-season lower-priced, mail-order fashion line for Sears, Roebuck & Co. (1916–17), which promoted her clothing in special de luxe catalogues, and a contract to design interiors for limousines and town cars for the Chalmers Motor Co, later Chrysler Corporation (1917).Olian, JoAnne, Everyday Fashions, 1909–1920: As Pictured in Sears Catalogs, 3–4; The Saturday Evening Post, "Interiors by Lady Duff Gordon," 7 October 1916, 57. RMS Titanic In 1912, Lucile travelled to America on business in connection with the New York branch of her salon. She and her husband, Sir Cosmo Duff Gordon, booked first class passage on the ocean liner [[RMS Titanic|RMS Titanic]] under the names Mr. and Mrs. Morgan, a possible explanation being that they hoped to avoid publicity on landing in New York. Lucile's secretary, Laura Mabel Francatelli, nicknamed "Franks," accompanied the couple.Bigham, Randy Bryan, "Lady Duff Gordon: Saved From the Titanic", Titanic Commutator, Spring 1991, 5–11 On 14 April, at 11:40 pm the Titanic struck an iceberg and began to sink. During the evacuation the Duff Gordons and Franks escaped in Lifeboat 1. Although the boat was built to hold about 63 people, it was lowered with just half full – most of them crewmen. Some time after the ship sank, while afloat in boat 1, Lucile reportedly commented to her secretary, "There is your beautiful nightdress gone."Lord, Walter, A Night to Remember (1955), 105 A fireman, annoyed by her comment, replied that while the couple could replace their property, he and the other crew members had lost everything in the sinking. Cosmo then offered each of the men £5 to assist them until they received new assignments. While on the [[RMS Carpathia|RMS Carpathia]], the Cunard liner that rescued Titanic's survivors, Cosmo presented the men from Lifeboat 1 with checks drawn on his bank in London, Coutts. Later this action spawned gossip that the Duff Gordons bribed the crew in their boat not to return to save swimmers out of fear it would be swamped.Lord, 127 These rumours were fuelled by the tabloid press in the United States and, eventually, in the United Kingdom. On 17 May, Cosmo Duff Gordon testified in London at the hearings of the British Board of Trade inquiry into the disaster and on 20 May Lucile took the stand. Their testimony attracted the largest crowds during the inquiry.Lynch, Don, Titanic: An Illustrated History (1992), 183–185 Cosmo Duff Gordon faced tough criticism during cross-examination while his wife "had it slightly easier". Dressed in black, with a large, veiled hat, she told the court she remembered little about what happened in the lifeboat on the night of the sinking, and could not recall specific conversations. Attorneys did not seem to have pressed her very hard."Sir Cosmo and Lady Duff Gordon at the Titanic Inquiry," The Sketch, 22 May 1912, 100 Lucile noted that for the rest of her husband's life he was broken-hearted over the negative coverage by the "yellow press" during his cross-examination at the inquiry. The final report by the inquiry determined that the Duff Gordons did not deter the crew from any attempt at rescue. The Titanic episode is one of the most tangible aspects of Lucile's life, thanks partly to motion pictures. The films, however, portrayed her without great attention to accuracy: in cameo by Harriette Johns in A Night to Remember (1958), produced by William MacQuitty, and again by Rosalind Ayres in James Cameron's 1997 blockbuster ''Titanic''. In the latter film the role of Lucile's husband Cosmo was portrayed by the actress' own husband, Martin Jarvis. In the 2012 British miniseries Titanic, Lucile was played by Sylvestra Le Touzel. A faded grey silk kimono with typical Fortuny style black cord edging, for some time thought to have been worn by Lucile as she escaped the Titanic, is now understood to have belonged to her daughter Esme, Countess of Halsbury. The distinctive print on that garment, designed by Mariano Fortuny, dates the item to post World War One. Fortuny suffered from failing sales following business problems in 1915, when his business assets were seized. The company reopened with a new name later that year, and following further changes, opened a new factory in 1919 with new, more commercial designs using new patented techniques.Taylor, Dr. Lou, Mario Fortuny Venise, Brighton Museum Letters written by Lucile do reveal the features of two 'warm, padded' bathrobes she wore. One pink, one purple, and both chosen for warmth. One was a partially made garment she describes grabbing in a rush from the Paris branch of her salon. She also described wearing a pair of pink Yantorny slippers, a blue head wrap and a squirrel coat and her 'motor hat'. unpublished letter from Lucile to her sister Elinor Glyn, in the possession of the Duff Gordon descendants; Daily Telegraph, April 14, 2012; Laura Mabel Francatelli correspondence, sold Christies 2007; letter referenced in New York Times, 9 May 1912 An apron said to have been worn by Lucile's secretary, Laura Francatelli, can be seen at the Maritime Museum in Liverpool, and her life-jacket was sold, along with correspondence about her experiences in the disaster, at Christie's, London, in 2007. Lucile had another close call three years after surviving the Titanic when she booked passage aboard the [[RMS Lusitania|RMS Lusitania]] on its last voyage. It was reported in the press that she cancelled her trip due to illness."Lady Duff Gordon Ill," Women's Wear Daily, 29 April 1915, 1; "Friends of Lady Duff Gordon Thankful for her Escape," Women's Wear Daily, 10 May 1915, 11; other references to her plans to sail on Lusitania include M.D.C. Crawford's Ways of Fashion (1948), 66. The Lusitania was destroyed by a German torpedo on 7 May 1915. ''Wood v. Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon'' In 1917, Lucile lost the New York Court of Appeals case of Wood v. Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon, in which Judge Cardozo established precedent in the realm of contract law when he held Lucile to a contract that assigned the sole right to market her name to her advertising agent, Otis F. Wood, despite the fact that the contract lacked explicit consideration for her promise. Cardozo noted that, "A promise may be lacking, and yet the whole writing may be 'instinct with an obligation'" and, if so, "there is a contract." 222 N.Y. 88, 118 N.E. 214 (1917). Cardozo famously opened the opinion with the following description of Lucile: Although the term "creator of fashions" was part of the tagline in her columns for the Hearst papers, some observers have claimed that Cardozo's tone revealed a certain disdain for Lucile's position in the world of fashion. Others accept that he was merely echoing language used by the defendant in her own submissions to the court as well as in her publicity.Duff Gordon, Lady ("Lucile"), "Spider Web Fashions," San Francisco Examiner, 12 July 1917; 177 A.D. 624, 164 N.Y.S. 576 and 222 N.Y. 88, 118 N.E. 214 Later life and death Lucy Duff Gordon's connection with her design empire began to disintegrate following a restructuring of Lucile, Ltd in 1918–19, and by September 1922 she had ceased designing for the company, which gradually diminished in success after her departure.Wilson, Robert Forrest, Paris on Parade (1924), 67 Meanwhile, its founder (who continued to be known as Lucile) worked from private premises designing personally for individual clients.Milbank, Caroline Rennolds, Couture: The Great Designers, (1985), 69 She was briefly associated with the firm of Reville, Ltd.,"Lady Duff Gordon Resigns," Women's Wear Daily, 23 March 1927, 3 maintained a ready-to-wear shop of her own"Ready-to-Wear Gowns Featured in Lady Duff Gordon's London Shop," Women's Wear Daily, 29 May 1924, 2 and lent her name to a wholesale operation in America."Dufgor, Inc," Women's Wear Daily, 16 August 1926, 2; "The People's Store," Charleston Gazette, 17 March 1929, 2 Lucile also continued as a fashion columnist and critic after her design career ended, and she penned her best-selling autobiography Discretions and Indiscretions in 1932. She died of breast cancer, complicated by pneumonia, in a Putney, London nursing home in 1935 at the age of 71."Died:Lady Duff Gordon," Time, 29 April 1935, 67; "Lady Duff Gordon Dies at 71," New York Herald Tribune, 22 April 1935, 10; "Lady Duff Gordon, Style Expert Dies," New York Times, 22 April 1935, 17; "She Changed Eve's Dress," London Daily Sketch, 22 April 1935, 1–2. The date of her death, 20 April, was the fourth anniversary of her husband's death. Legacy Lucile's former assistant, Howard Greer, published memories of his years working with her in the book Designing Male (1950). A dual biography of Lucile and her sister Elinor Glyn, called The 'It' Girls, by Meredith Etherington-Smith, was published in 1986, the title stemming from Elinor's popularization of the euphemism "it" to denote sexuality or "sex appeal." A number of international museum exhibitions have featured Lucile garments in recent years, such as the Metropolitan Museum of Art's "Cobism and Fashion" (1999), the Museum of the City of New York's "Fashion on Stage" (1999) and the Victoria and Albert Museum's "Black in Fashion" (2000) As of 2006, the V&A included a Lucile suit on permanent exhibit. The first exhibition devoted exclusively to Lucile's work was the New York Fashion Institute of Technology's "Designing the It Girl: Lucile and Her Style" (2005) It included pieces from the private 'Lucile Ltd' archive of British textile designer Lewis Orchard, known for his expertise on the subject. The Victoria & Albert Museum in London published Lucile Ltd by Amy de la Haye and Valerie D. Mendes in June 2009. In 2011-12 Lucy Duff Gordon's great-great granddaughter, Camilla Blois, revived the Lucile brand, concentrating on alluring and elegant lingerie, as her ancestor had when she started in business in the 1890s. The year marked a resurgence of interest in the couturiere's legacy. In addition to the Sundance Channel documentary, "Love, Lust & Lingerie," which featured a detailed segment on Lucile's contributions to fashion history, the British-produced miniseries Titanic, written by Downton Abbey's Julian Fellowes, included a cameo portrayal of the designer. Two critically acclaimed accounts of the disaster, Shadow of the Titanic by Andrew Wilson, and Gilded Lives, Fatal Voyage by Hugh Brewster have extensive chapters on Lucile. Five other books published in 2011-12 explored Lucile's career. Among them are an illustrated biography, Lucile: Her Life by Design by Randy Bigham, and a novel based on her life, The Dressmaker, by Kate Alcott. Other titles include Staging Fashion, exploring the Lucile wardrobes of actresses Lily Elsie and Billie Burke, and Performance, Fashion and the Modern Interior, which includes a chapter on Lucile's salons. Finally the couturiere's 1932 autobiography, Discretions and Indiscretions, was republished under the title A Woman of Temperament. Most recently, in the third season of Downton Abbey, airing in 2012-2013, Lucile was featured in the storyline as the designer of choice for fashionable trousseau lingerie. The dialogue between Dame Maggie Smith and Elizabeth McGovern in which the couturiere was name-dropped intrigued female viewers of the hit series, reportedy inspiring a nearly 50% sales hike at Lucile, the relaunched label headed by Camilla Blois. Titles *'1863–1884': Miss Lucy Christiana Sutherland *'1884–1900': Mrs. James Stuart Wallace *'1900–1935': Lucy, Lady Duff-Gordon Footnotes References * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * External links *Lucile Lingerie *Lucy Duff-Gordon's Death Certificate on Titanic-Titanic.com *Madame Lucile: A Life in Style by Randy Bryan Bigham Category:1863 births Category:1935 deaths Category:English fashion designers Category:Artists from London Category:RMS Titanic's crew and passengers Category:Deaths from breast cancer Category:Cancer deaths in England Category:RMS Titanic survivors